During the broadcast of the UConn-Indiana game on Sunday, former Duke star and current television analyst Jay Williams had some interesting things to say. Undoubtedly the most interesting came as he began to talk about the upcoming game between Louisville and Texas. Still unrelated to Kentucky, Williams began to speculate that Kentucky guard DJ Wagner could consider transferring to Louisville, with no basis of information.
“Milt Wagner, who played at Louisville, one of the top players of all time. You know, his grandson, DJ Wagner, plays for Kentucky,” Jay Williams said. “There are a lot of guards on Kentucky’s roster who are really good. They can go. You wonder how that situation plays out over time, does DJ find himself back at Louisville, I’m not saying that he can’t be a star for Kentucky because he might. But it leaves things out there wondering if things aren’t going their way they’ll get out and go somewhere else.”
Not only is this based on no information, it is extremely unfair and dangerous to Wagner and his family to put something like this out. Coming out of high school, Wagner had his choice between Kentucky and Louisville, having ties with both. Rather than following his grandfather to Louisville, he chose to go to Kentucky and become one of the next John Calipari guards to be drafted. Even more so, Wagner will be a one-and-done player barring something unseen.
Four games in, it is no secret Wagner has struggled this far, averaging 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting just 31.9% from the field overall. That said, he is young and still has plenty of time to turn it around.
Following Kentucky’s game against Stonehill, John Calipari talked about those struggles. “You gotta believe in you, as much as I believe in you,” Calipari said he told the players, including Wagner. Calipari also discussed the expectations of Kentucky, which he
“There’s an expectation,” Calipari said. I tell them, ‘It’s not changing, you gotta learn to deal with it’. It’s not going away, you’re at Kentucky. The guys that fight through that end up going [to the NBA] and they succeed.”
If there is any player that was prepared to meet those expectations, it is Wagner. Long considered to be the No. 1 player in the 2023 class, he is expected to be the first third-generation NBA player, joining his grandfather and father who were both college stars before their careers in the NBA.
He has lived with high expectations his entire life, and has always played with fire. Combining the birthright expectations and his fight, Wagner will find himself and he does, Kentucky will hit another level.
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